A Vendetta
WASHINGTON, D.C.—House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) took to the House Floor just minutes before House Democrats' vote to impeach President Trump and noted that impeachment will not just be a stain on Democrats' legacy — it will be their only legacy.
Scalise made one thing clear: this process was never about an impeachable offense, it was about carrying out a vendetta against President Trump. Democrats rigged the very rules of the impeachment inquiry, flagrantly broke House rules, abused their power in every sense, and denied President Trump and Congressional Republicans basic due process rights.
Speaker Pelosi put politics over country. She put her insane partisanship over finding common solutions for the American people. It's a disgrace. Republicans are united against this travesty.
Full remarks:
"Impeaching a President of the United States. This isn't about some solemn duty tonight. Let's talk about what this is really about. This has been about a political vendetta. A political vendetta that didn't just start with the Zelensky call, it started long before that. Just listen to some of the quotes from Democrats in this chamber. Speaker Pelosi, quote, ‘it's been going on for 22 months. Two and a half years, actually. We cannot accept a second term for Donald Trump. What's more serious is that he can't win.' This isn't about some crime that was committed. It's about fear that he might win re-election. That's not why you impeach a President. [Representative Al Green], quote, ‘I'm concerned that if we don't impeach this President, he will get re-elected.' The list goes on, Madam Speaker. In fact, there are some quotes that I can't even read on this House Floor that some of our colleagues made.
"Keep in mind, more than 100 Democrats on this House Floor voted to impeach this President before the Zelensky phone call. Just look at some of these articles of impeachment that they voted for. Two years ago, 58 democrats voted to impeach the President over comments he made about NFL players kneeling for the Pledge of Allegiance – impeaching the President – over 50 Democrats voted to impeach him for that. Just this summer, over 90 Democrats voted to impeach the President for comments he made about the Squad. So, he makes comments about some other Members of Congress who make a lot of comments about him, and 95 members vote to impeach the President of the United States. This is a political vendetta. It has nothing to do with the crime committed. There was no crime.
"Why don't we listen to some of the witnesses? Obviously, [Republicans] weren't able to call all of the witnesses we wanted, but there were witnesses. In fact, Gordon Sondland, U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, he's mentioned over 600 times in the Schiff report. He was their star witness. And what did he say when asked? Quote, ‘Did President Trump ever tell you personally about any preconditions for anything?' His answer, ‘no.' ‘Any preconditions for the aid to be released?' ‘No.' ‘Any preconditions for a White House meeting? Under oath, he testified ‘no.'
"Abuse of power, let's talk about that article of impeachment, Madam Speaker. George Washington law professor [Jonathan Turley], who admitted under oath that he voted against Trump, spoke to this claim of abuse of power. In fact, he said, quote, ‘If you make a high crime and misdemeanor out of going to the courts, it is an abuse of power, it's your abuse of power.' ‘You are doing precisely what you are criticizing the President of doing.' Abuse of power. There's a House Rule, Madam Speaker, that requires, not allows, but requires that the minority get a day of hearing, which we asked for multiple times. They broke this rule. They didn't allow us to have a minority day of hearing. They didn't want to hear the facts about this case because it was never about the facts. Because there was no crime. It is about a personal, political vendetta.
"Now, let's talk about obstruction of Congress. As they make up these terms to impeach a President because they didn't find a crime and they were looking. It's been an impeachment in search of a crime. But they talk about obstruction of Congress, saying the President defied subpoenas. Subpoena after subpoena. Let's go through the departments. The Department of State they subpoenaed. Do you know that literally just four days after the subpoena, the Secretary of State himself responded to your subpoena? The Department of Defense, a week later, responded to the subpoena. The Department of Energy responded to the subpoena. We can go on and on with all of these agencies. That's an abuse of power, that's an obstruction of Congress? Responding to your subpoena? That's what they did. They responded. You might not have liked the answer, but that's not the way this works. You don't impeach a President because you don't like his foreign policy. As so many of those foreign policy experts came and testified. But this isn't just about Donald Trump. They don't just hate Donald Trump, Madam Speaker, they hate the 63 million Americans who voted for this President.
"The forgotten men and women of this country who have been left behind. It's those forgotten men and women of this country that Washington had left behind. And what's this President doing for them? He's delivering for them. 600 jobs in Pennsylvania. 1,000 jobs, workers in Mingo Junction, Ohio. $750 million-dollar investment for 600 new jobs across this country. Detroit News, Chrysler, 6,500 new jobs. That's what this President is doing to deliver for those men and women of this country who had been left behind. It's about time somebody stands up from them, and President Trump is. So, it is a political vendetta. But if they're going to go through with this, Madam Speaker, impeachment will not just be a stain on this Democrat majority, impeachment will be their legacy."